China’s President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin, May 8, 2015

MOSCOW, June 22. /TASS/. Russian President Vladimir Putin and China’s President Xi Jinping will give a start to talks on integration of the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) and the Silk Road Project on June 25 in Beijing, Russian president’s aide Yuri Ushakov said on Wednesday.

"Negotiations to prepare a trade and economic cooperation agreement between our integration projects will be formally started in Beijing. Achievement of a new partnership level is meant, implying the buildup of common economic space on the whole Eurasian continent," Ushakov said.

EAEU and Silk Road Economic Belt

On 8 May 2015, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping signed an agreement on cooperation in the framework of the Silk Road Economic Belt project. The agreement envisages "linking" the Eurasian Economic Union and the Silk Road Economic Belt. "In fact, we are talking about entering the new level of partnership in the future that envisages common economic space on the Eurasian continent," Russian President Vladimir Putin said after talks.

The Silk Road Economic Belt is a project of creating a transport, energy and trade corridor between the countries of Asia and Europe. The idea of constructing the Silk Road was put forward by Chinese President Xi Jinping in September 2013.

The name of the project traces back to trade routes of medieval caravans that lay through the territories of modern Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Mongolia, India, Turkey, Iran and Greece. These routes were later called the "Great Silk Road.".